AGM of Laurel Hill

The parent talk at the Annual General Meeting of Laurel Hill Colaiste FCJ and Laurel Hill Secondary Schools, Limerick, was held on Monday evening 6th October 2014. Pat Courtney from Anti-Bullying Services was the invited speaker and the subject of the talk was recognising the signs of bullying and practical measures for dealing with Cyber Bullying.

The talk was very well attended with over 200 parents present.

Pat emphasised to parents that most young people do not show obvious signs that they are being bullied and gave comprehensive examples of the range of subtleties parents should look out for at home. He described how sometimes even slight changes in mood, behaviour and attitudes to school can alert a watchful and informed parent to the possibility of some school based source which may be causing upset.

Other topics included a demonstration of how to increase privacy and security on social media, and graphic examples of how a young person can be shown how to cope and deflect cyber bullying or other uncomfortable experiences while they are online.

Pat emphasised throughout that it is most important for parents to develop a “Cyber Relationship” with their child which is based on trust and communication rather than on restriction or punitive supervision.